Bush shrugs off massive protests as 'examples of democracy'

[sabra]

http://www.unison.ie/breakingnews/index.php3?ca=31&si=101680

Bush shrugs off massive protests as 'examples of democracy'

US President George Bush shrugged off massive protests against his visit to the world's most populous Muslim nation today as a sign of a healthy democracy, as thousands braved heavy rains to call him a war criminal and a terrorist.

...

Others called him a war criminal and chanted ``Allah Akbar'' or ``God is great.''

Students in at least two cities tried to seal off American-owned restaurants, sometimes clashing with police.

But Bush, wrapping up an eight-day Asia tour that also took him to Vietnam and Singapore, was unruffled.

``I applaud a society where people are free to express their opinion,'' he said at a joint news conference at the Bogor Palace, a graceful presidential retreat surrounded by vast gardens. ``People protest. That is a good sign of a healthy society.''

[Eurobabe]

1. NOw GIT me a TASER!! n/t

[saigon68]

8. He's winning hearts and minds

[louis-t]

2. Such an idiot.

No pea-brain, it means you are hated the world over. Phony. Asshole.

[otohara]

3. Nothing Phases Leader, Not Death

not suffering, not global warming, - a few hundred thousand protesters is a semi-colon to President Dimson.

[beltanefauve]

6. And once again

he was only made vaguely aware that there were protests, but never actually saw anything. Chimp in a bubble...

[bullimiami]

4. just like 3 jobs is great, 'uniquely american'.

i dont know if he is actually deluded or has baghdad bob syndrome.

[JohnnyRingo]

5. As long as no one tries that "example of democracy" here

Keep that democracy crap within the "free speech zone" that was first instituted by GWB, and he'll be OK with it.

I wonder if he leaves foreign leaders with advice on how best to control the masses. The fact that he witnessed and aknowledged the protests lends a stark difference to his domestic appearances.

[librechik]

7. "a course where AH come from, we hide the protests where the sun don't shine"

"heheheh"

it's good fer MAH kind o democracy--where AH'M the DICTATOR-er DECIDER!"

[AngryOldDem]

9. That's one way to spin it, I guess

Can it get any more Orwellian than this???

[krispos42]

10. Yeah, they democratically decided they HATE YOU!!!

Just like we did on 11-7, ya prick!

Article Two, Section Four,
We can't impeach if you resign before!

[Karmageddon]

11. I wonder if the protesters had to stay in the "free-speech zones"

Not a snowball's chance in hell that he senses even a hint of irony in what he says.

[phusion]

12. This is how massive protests are handled here...

"Guantanamo on the Hudson" (the 2004 Republican Convention protests, NYC):



From Wikipedia:

Guantanamo on the Hudson was a term coined during the Republican National Convention by a lawyer who, amongst 1000 other people, was detained in a facility by the New York City Police, in such conditions that he said that the city had created its "own little Guantanamo on the Hudson" (an allusion to the tortures reported in prisoners camps in Guantanamo).

The City police reportedly closed a whole street where some protesters were marching, and arrested protesters and bystanders alike. People were required to show identification cards or face arrest; the arrested people were not immediately informed of charges against them.

The facility was a former bus garage on Pier 57 on the Hudson River in Manhattan, a three-story, block-long pier that has been converted into a temporary holding facility, though unfit for detention of prisoners. Arrested protesters have complained about extremely poor conditions describing it as overcrowded, dirty, and contaminated with oil and asbestos. People reported having suffered from smell, bad ventilation, and even chemical burns and rashes<27><28><29><30><31> <32>. Deputy Police Commissioner Paul J. Browne denied the accusations, pointing to the fact that ventilations and sanitation had been installed.

Numerous troubling cases were reported, notably:

* A 15-year-old diabetic girl on her way to a movie was arrested. <33>
* A former vice president of Morgan Stanley was arrested while riding her bicycle. <34>
* A 16-year-old protestor was lost to her mother for two days, even though her mother knew about and supported her daughter's participation. <35>
* Small pens were used to contain "30 to 40 people" at once. <36>
* Many people were detained longer than 24 hours on relatively trivial charges. <37><38> One was a 23-year-old Montreal student arrested for disorderly conduct and released three days later. "He says he spent a total of 57 hours between the pier and Central Booking, during which time he says he was moved 14 times and repeatedly handcuffed and shackled to other protesters as young as 15." <39>

[beltanefauve]

14. Hi Phusion!

I was there! :hi: (Feel free to PM me if you'd like)

[dailykoff]

13. Yeah right. Retaliation is Junior's middle name.

Remember what happened to NYC? Look for bigtime "terror" outbreaks coming soon to an Indonesian capital near you.